This book offers a new history of drug use in sport. It argues that the idea of taking drugs to enhance performance has not always been the crisis or 'evil' we now think it is. Instead, the late nineteenth century was a time of some experimentation and innovation largely unhindered by talk of cheati[...]
The use of alcohol and drugs seems contradictory to the popular ideal of sport as a healthy moral and physical pursuit, and yet it has been present in sports culture since clubs first became the focus for competitive games and social gatherings. Charting the changing patterns of the use of drugs and[...]
The issue of doping in sport was once of interest only to aficionados of elite sports. Nowadays, it is a matter of intense public scrutiny that spans the worlds of health, medicine, sports, politics, technology, and beyond. In keeping with this territorial expansion, the aim of this book is to illus[...]